Rubbed out my electrics!!!

[cantolina]

Hey folks, this isn't a question...I just wanted to share what happened during the Lake Erie Run, in the hopes that somebody will remember it at the appropriate time!

I changed my rear tire, from a 401 to a 402...they told me it was actually a "tad" wider... (is that a technical term I don't know?)

Anyway...I'm ALSO a pretty light guy- 150 lbs at most...so, I have run my progressives at the lowest pre-load setting when I ride by myself, and I liked the way it rode....

Here's where the problem came in...

The clearance was so close, and the travel in my shocks was so great that I ended up rubbing my wires on the LH side of the bike.....

Which caused a "closed" short...

Which in turn, drained my battery...

I didn't even see the REAL extent of the damage till I got home....I thought it was just my "skull" wiring that got munched, but it was a taillight, as well!

(Note to Dwardy: See, you weren't crazy, there WAS something going on back there...lol)

~ always listen to your fellow riders when they say they say something strange hapening on your bike...

At any rate, I fixed the wiring last night without too much trouble...today I charged my battery, and am keeping a log of voltage readings.....I also am running a bit more pre-load on my shocks....and we'll see....

I'm gonna go out and get an oil filter (because I was so paranoid about the battery, I let her sit too long at too high an idle and reached 250° or so on the second morning of the run.....bad....

So, oil and primary change tonight.....

[Shark Doctor]

All said and done, it worked out well. There is NO substitute for knowing your bike, though. We were all impressed with your speedy diagnosis and repair work.

* CANTOLINA WAS ONE WITH THE SPORTY, GRASSHOPPER *

It is also nice that everyone carries tools and everyone's toolbags are different, so pieces and parts not in one person's bag were probably in someone else's. It doesn't hurt to have friendly maintenance folks at motels who are very willing to help with jump starts either!

How lucky we were to have such wide expertise in the group!!!

AND HE DID THIS ALL WITHOUT HIS MANUAL!!!

[cantolina]

Originally Posted by Shark Doctor

All said and done, it worked out well. There is NO substitute for knowing your bike, though. We were all impressed with your speedy diagnosis and repair work.

* CANTOLINA WAS ONE WITH THE SPORTY, GRASSHOPPER *

It is also nice that everyone carries tools and everyone's toolbags are different, so pieces and parts not in one person's bag were probably in someone else's. It doesn't hurt to have friendly maintenance folks at motels who are very willing to help with jump starts either!

How lucky we were to have such wide expertise in the group!!!

AND HE DID THIS ALL WITHOUT HIS MANUAL!!!

Thanx Shark...you're right....everyone had excellent input, at the time, and we only ended up being 15 minutes late for our start....

Knowing I was screwed the night before helped! lol

If I hadn't tried to move her before I bedded down for the night, I wouldn't have known there was an issue, and we would have been a LOT later....

Thanx again for going out and finding what I thought I needed....Now that things are fixed, she seems to be pretty stable, battery-wise...

Here's my voltage log from today:
13.05 volts
10:35 am (After charging, for good measure)

12.97 volts
11:07 am

12.95 volts
11:35 am

12.94 volts
12:00 noon

12.93 volts
12:30 pm

Ride- 2 hrs, with stops

12.92 volts
2:25 pm

12.92 volts
3:00 PM


Looks like the battery AND charging system is FINE!!!

[Chuck]

Originally Posted by cantolina

Thanx Shark...you're right....everyone had excellent input, at the time, and we only ended up being 15 minutes late for our start....

Knowing I was screwed the night before helped! lol

If I hadn't tried to move her before I bedded down for the night, I wouldn't have known there was an issue, and we would have been a LOT later....

Thanx again for going out and finding what I thought I needed....Now that things are fixed, she seems to be pretty stable, battery-wise...

Here's my voltage log from today:
13.05 volts
10:35 am (After charging, for good measure)

12.97 volts
11:07 am

12.95 volts
11:35 am

12.94 volts
12:00 noon

12.93 volts
12:30 pm

Ride- 2 hrs, with stops

12.92 volts
2:25 pm

12.92 volts
3:00 PM


Looks like the battery AND charging system is FINE!!!

I think you got her.

[stevo]

not an uncommon problem...


See it a lot on Softails too